he lands of Novus were so foreign, so new. Different than what he had come to expect, but also familiar in some small way. He was here to find some type of new materials to work with; coin was becoming scarce as the autumn slowly turned to winter. Benedict needed more if he was to survive it. His 'shop' was more or less a roaming caravan - not a stable thing.
He'd only been here since the beginning of autumn; these things took time anyway. He'd continue to learn, perhaps find a master crafter, and then open his own dwellings somewhere. The Courts were basically like four noble houses, and he did not feel limited to just Dusk. He could roam anywhere that wasn't currently warring with his 'home'. Benedict refused to call it a place of rest; only a temporary solitude from the rest of the world.
Novus was one step toward peace. One step toward something unfamiliar to him besides a land with a name. He sought... peace. He wanted peace. He desired it. Nosing along the beach, he bit back a sigh - most of the materials here had been picked clean. He shouldn't be surprised or disappointed. Raising his head from the ground, he spotted movement in the distance. It was coming toward him - but did it even want him?
Visions of your pretty face send me into hyper space
Caught up in a palentary world
The air had been changing.
She could feel it when she woke up, shivering in the morning from a coldness that seemed to wrap around her. It wasn't alarming, thankfully - no; it was embracing after so long in the odd heat from the trapped radiation from the large star that illuminated this rock. But, for the tiny star-turned horse, this growing chill was like the icy touch of the galaxy, the deep freezing of space, where her own spark could grow brighter, warmer. Her own energy was created, nuclear reactors from with in the little star in her chest, where a heart on a normal horse would lay.
The turning of the seasons was a breath of fresh air.
And with it, she felt her own energies peak, her own desire to explore grew larger. And so, she had taken off from Solterra early in the morning, only finding the word to speak after a long, long moment - uttering the one word 'water' before smiling reassuringly and taking off for the sea. She had hoped Jane would understand, her roommate wouldn't worry; but more than anything, she was excited with her own ability to at least partially experience the wonders of this planet's communication system. Sure, most of the noises were nothing more than odd noises to her.
But it was progress.
Her ears perked, as she walked along the waters edge. This time, she didn't stare longly at the sky (though it was likely due to no stars being visible, the first twinkle in the sky and her attention was drawn back home like a starving child watching a feast through a window. Today though, she was enjoying the way the water brushed through the soft fur of her limbs, how it wetted her tail. Galactic stardust seemed to blend with the ater, being carried off and dispelling minerals and ions not normally introduced to the planet. All kinds of elements that radiated off of her, like a glimmering cloak. She'd seen others stop and stare at the oddness of her stardust before, but to the star she hardly noticed, it was a simple part of her.
Her travels carried her further down the beach.
It was here her eyes were cast curiously upon a stranger. Her ears perked up, sunlight reflecting off the silver hoops and studs piercing her ears, though the space rock around her neck glowed of it's own accord. She put a kind smile onto her face, slowing down to not alarm the stranger, as pink galaxy-hued eyes watched him curiously. Her smile didn't waver, even as she dipped her head in a silent greeting. It was always a lot of silence from her, and she dimly hoped he wouldn't mind, others had been off put by it before, assuming she stuck up, or rude, rather than confused, and not knowing any language, let alone the one they used.
She kept her smile in place.
FROM THE MOUTH INSIDE THE MIND
@Benedict Notes:: So, you sparked Veil muse. By a lot.
Breathin' in you give me air, I'm living on your solar flare
Could you be my super nova girl?
Equines of various colors, mutations... wherein he was quite regular in features. Benedict's gold metal hair bands clinked as he returned the nod, clacking against each other in a musical note. Ever since coming to Novus, he had grown accustomed to the variety of this world. "Greetings, ma'am" he says in deep baritone, though quiet all the same. It reached her, he was sure of it.
The man's head rose, staring at her. He had always been taught to not break eye-contact unless bowing or giving a nod. His eyes were soft emeralds as he waited a response of some sort. She seemed the quiet type; he did not mind. Many women in his homeland were dainty, withdrawn... all to submit to their men. He didn't, and never would, like it. But natural quietness...
She also seemed friendly. There was no threat radiating from the woman. Her smile did not falter, and he detected no malicious intent. "Is there anything' I can do for you?" he asked politely, wondering if she approached due to some need or request. Benedict hadn't made any waves in Dusk. He was quietly unknown so far. He preferred it like this until he got his barings.
Visions of your pretty face send me into hyper space
Caught up in a palentary world
The accidental crossing of paths.
How often, new conversations, friendships, interactions crop up by the unintentional running across of another. Veil hadn't headed to the shore in hopes for interacting with others. It was about the quiet calm of the ocean, the soft soothing flow of the wave. The comfort of the never ending cycle, and the effects the moon held onto it. The constant flow, the constant tugging, te constant reactions from other bodies upon this world. There was the greater part of her that liked it for knowing that there was something else breaking through the barrier of the atmosphere of this rock.
The moon attracted the waves to come and go.
Maybe one day it could help her escape the gravity of this rock as well. She tries not to wish for it too much, however; it could only do a lot to make her struggle through the day. So, she sought for distractions, for chances of calm, peace; and opportunities to learn. The beach had given her the first two easily, and now this stallion may provide the third. She tilted her head, her eyes brightening in surprised delight at the way the bands in his hair clanked, chiming like the music she's heard at celebrations before.
But it's his words that make her pause curiously.
They aren't ones she knows, which means, she has to rely on her magic. Almost instantly it seems to activate, filling the gaps of her understanding with emotional cues and context to help her decipher the meanings. And so to realize it was merely a welcoming sound, an acknowledgement - that meant it was like the greeting sound! Hello. Her own reply is said softly, with a soft voice tempered by a wisdom her apparent age would not ellude to. But, while young as a horse, she'd been alive for billions of years before that black hole had destroyed her life as a nebula, and she was recrafted into this.
His head raises, this stranger, and the attention is surprising.
She's used to others who don't meet eye contact often. WHo will look around, attention wavering. The direct attention - the eye contact, was not something she was familiar with, and it had her ruffling her feathers curiously, confused; wondering if it was another custom of this world she hadn't come across yet. Did she break the gaze first? Did she hold it too? What was she supposed to do.
Then he spoke again, more words she didn't know.
Her smile didn't drop, but her expression clouded with confusion, ears pitching back curiously, as she tried to puzzle out the meaning with the context beyond words that her magic provided. Her eyes took in facial cues and body language, but it was her magic that played up the bigger clues to deciphering what the noises may mean. Of course, the translation offered by her magic was in the same manner her own thoughts existed - as impressions and emotions, and little else. Helpful. Questioning. Unsure. Acknowledgment? No . . . Validation? Not quite. Ah, he was checking if she needed help? Maybe? It was the best she could decipher from the emotions. The twinkling, waterfall sound fell from her lips, a soft laugh; and she shook her head no once, her gaze looking back out to the sea, her smile turning softer, gentler.
No. Fine.
The words were short, simple, but they weren't harsh, or definitive, but merely the only items in her personnel to explain when she couldn't really speak. Her muzzle instead traces her path, continuing past him, along the beach. Her own mind pictures it as the arch of a shooting star, light traveling through a distance; the passing of stars. But she couldn't express this in words, so instead her smile turns sheepish, hoping her might understand, even as she offers one finally word, Sorry.
Sorry, she can't express herself better.
FROM THE MOUTH INSIDE THE MIND
@Benedict Notes:: <3 He's such a gentleman!
Breathin' in you give me air, I'm living on your solar flare
Could you be my super nova girl?
he man smiles politely at her, kindly even. His eyes, while still weary from travel, held deep sparks to them. "There is no need to apologize, ma'am" he tells her with compassion. There had been some in his kingdom that had not been blessed with charisma. Some that could not speak, were mute or selected mute... But he had a feeling this woman was different than such beings.
That, perhaps, she did not know how to speak.
At least not in the common way. "Though I am glad to hear you are well" He already did a glance over to see if she was needing tending to - finding no wounds or injuries of the like - and was gladdened to find she was healthy. Too many brutes in these realms, not just Novus, took simple joy of berating mares. He was not - never would be - a fan of those types. "my name is Ben" he adds, shortening his title for her benefit.
Perhaps it would be easier to say than 'Benedict'.
Visions of your pretty face send me into hyper space
Caught up in a palentary world
He is considerate, even she can tell that.
The emotional cues her magic offers her, flares of emotions that are not hers, but instead related to the situation she is in; they tell her enough to know he's sincere, his kindness isn't faux. Isn't stressed. It is pure, untainted. Refreshing. His tone is laid with its own emotion - compassion, and it fills in gaps her mind doesn't know. But she understands enough of the words, and the repeat of the term ma'am gives her the clue it must be a term being used for her. Not taunting, so respectful? But not like 'you' is. Perhaps an honorary? She'd repeat it for Jane later, see if Jane could explain it more.
Still, she smiles warmly, relieved.
Her own emotions are expressed in the swirling galaxy trapped in those rose eyes. Like twinkling stars that dance almost as vibrantly as the nebula design stamped into her pelt. He does seem to understand, that her lack of speech wasn't a slight, but a problem she was trying to rectify. Trying so hard to learn. He speaks again, and she recognizes a few of the sounds, the context to know he's expressing happiness - and she can only imagine it's due to her announcement that she doesn't need help? Right?
She doesn't respond to that, however.
She doesn't have the words to continue it. But she does note he still had glanced over as if to check over her health with visual confirmation. Briefly, her mind turns curious. What would he have done if she had been injured? To see that blood from a wound would be more along the lines of more stardust, and radiation flaring leaving the containment of her body, than just normal liquid. To know that beneath the flesh, muscle, and bone, a different set of pathways connected from where her heart was a star, and thus produced something different than the normal heart and veins that neuron paths traveled alongside.
Not even Veil herself knew what injury would look like on herself.
But then he says words she does understand. Her eyes were bright as she understood these words, she knew what they meant. Her eyes were delighted, and she dipped her head more formally, though as she lifted her head again, these words fell more easily, more comfortably than any of the ones before. I am The Veil Nebula. She never could introduce herself as it being her name. It felt wrong. Not who she was, what she was. She wasn't Veil Nebula, it wasn't her name, it was who she was at the center of her core, everything that was important, everything that made her real, alive, here. Veil. The nickname was offered after a brief pause, and she had to struggle to remember the next bet of the greeting exchange. She didn't know the words themselves, but she knew the sounds, was starting to put meaning to the sounds, but for now, she could parrot them back well enough.
Pleasure, to meet you.
And it wasn't a lie.
FROM THE MOUTH INSIDE THE MIND
@Benedict Notes:: <3
Breathin' in you give me air, I'm living on your solar flare
Could you be my super nova girl?
he Veil Nebula. Benedict frowns slightly, having not heard a being address itself with the since nobility in his own land. There it was 'I am The Archduke' followed by a name. A name was not a title. It stood to reason what he knew of this woman so far; she did not know basic social graces. It mattered not though. She seemed pleased he was conversing with her all the same.
She even shortened her name. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Veil" Benedict replies to her words, his frown being replaced by a gentle smile. The mare did not seem to have a Court's scent on her. Perhaps one of the rare Vagabonds of this Novus? "I live in the Dusk Court" he adds this "for now." But what did he mean by that? Perhaps... it was simple. That Benedict would move on to a new Court when his time in Dusk felt done?
Or if he followed some one else to their Court. He did not believe this a capable thing right now, however. Dusk suited him fine - but it was like he said. For now. He swung his body away from the woman, viewing the sea. "I'm trying to find crafting materials. For clothing, weapons... Anything another needs" he chuckles softly "you are welcome to join me." He extends the offer to the woman. Stand here and chat, or come a bit closer... and walk with him.
Benedict could not afford to stand here all day if his aspiration was to be a Blacksmith. Though good company Veil was, he had set out on this beach to do something.
Visions of your pretty face send me into hyper space
Caught up in a palentary world
She sees the frown.
She doesn't press the issue, however; didn't feel the need to make him see what he hadn't in her words. The she wasn't a mortal being, she wasn't a mere horse. She was the nebula itself, crafted through a god's gentle touch to carefully reconstruct the scattered particles after she'd been violently compressed down by that black hole. It was a second chance for her, after that fear. That darkness. That pain. She shakes her head, before the memories could surge up of the terrible event, and refocuses on the male.
He returns the final greeting noises.
And calls her by the nickname Jane had given her, causing her smile to brighten greatly, before she perked up at his next words. She knew some of those words! This was getting easier. Solterra, Day. Home. She shares willingly, ears perked up, eyes gentle, patient to let him understand the words she offered to decipher meaning in his own time. Her speech was limited, it required some finesse to piece together what she meant. Even she could be aware of that.
But she wondered about this other place he mentioned.
Where was it? She would have to venture out in the direction, of where scent might match his; to see this new land, learn of a new place, of new things on this rock. She was always trying to learn. He moved briefly, his gaze, on the sea, and when he spoke, the entire of the words meant nothing. But there were a slight emotional context, but most of it meant little to the star that didn't have an idea of what the emotions of companionship, of comadarie might be. Instead, she tilts her head, trying to judge what he means, and for a brief moment, that shy hesitation enters her gaze.
She tries to keep the smile, tries to keep the happiness.
But beneath it all is a star that feels like an outsider on this rock, and it's moments like these that she feels it more than any. When something is clearly suggested to her, and she has no idea what it might mean, no idea what he wants, what he offers. It's these moments that the weakness seems to come up, the smile falters to be replaced by shamed trepidation. A mare who knows she cannot speak, cannot follow the conversation.
She holds a universe of secrets in her head.
Converses with the stars. Can read the future in the planets, and yet . . . she struggles with language. Her ears flick back, and her muzzle opens a few times, before closing with a snap, expression displaying her uncertainty, her self-criticism for not having the words to even ask for assistance in what he's trying to say. Wings flutter slightly, shedding star dust that wafts around her form, like a galaxy plucked from space and delivered to the beach. In a way, she was.
It's only him turning away that gives her a touch of a clue.
Hoping she makes the right choice, that she has at least puzzled out enough of a meaning to react, she takes a step forward, rose-tinted eyes watching the stallion for any cue that she'd at least gotten part of his speech correct, even if the noises and sounds he made where meaningless to her.
FROM THE MOUTH INSIDE THE MIND
@Benedict Notes:: <3
Breathin' in you give me air, I'm living on your solar flare
Could you be my super nova girl?
he woman did not seem to understand what he spoke of. Benedict waited patiently until she did, her eyes flashing with realization as she moved closer. Solterra was mentioned, even if she did not smell of the Day Court. Or rather, the scent was very faint. He could pluck a few strands, like sand, from her coat. She might be a new arrival. He gives an encouraging nod before moving off.
His gold hooves hit more sand. Benedict is aware of the uncomfortable nature this silky beach holds. He is not one for water - only fire and metal. Though the man knows how to swim, he does not like fighting the elements. He'd rather mold them, and water is a constant struggle. It cannot be contained so easily. He has placed a sack further up the beach, already half-full with shells and other items of value. He approaches it now, lowering his nose to rummage through the items.
Deeming them acceptable.
He lifts, spotting a shiny shell. The iridescent green would fetch a fair price with collectors. If not, he could fashion a necklace out of it and sell it this way. "I make" he tries to fill the silence and also tries to make it simpler for her to understand from his words "and sell" Benedict adds "things. I collect, make new. Into other things." The man approaches the same shell, grabbing it from the ground and tossing it into the bag delicately.
Visions of your pretty face send me into hyper space
Caught up in a palentary world
He was patient, something the star appreciated.
She knew she wasn't like the others on this rock, that her mannerisms were off. Her speech was so far down the hole, it was just a speck at this point, but she was trying. Oh, oh how she tried. So any time someone took the patience to seem to work with her was one that made her smile. And so of course she willingly moved forward, even as he seemed to observe her when she told him her home. The harsh heat of the desert, the intense scents and spices in the air. It wasn't her favorite place, but Jane was there, and that's all that mattered to her!
Where her best friend was, she would be too.
Unless she was exploring of course. Which was becoming more and more necessary as Jane seemed to work more, and more. It required Veil to go out her own path, to try to learn how to talk, how to understand those of this world. Some made it easy for her, others not so much. But this stallion was even encouraging, and as he moved, she quickly caught up, her own steps light, star dust painting the sky behind her as she moved, twinkling softly like galaxies lost in the night sky.
He doesn't appear to like the water though.
Like it was set ill against him, or perhaps a conflict of interests? Emotional cues of her magic rarely gave her much to of on, but she watches as he moved about, approaching a bag that had a variety of small items in it. As his head lifts, he spots something, and he speaks as he walks towards a sparkling green. She listens intently as she watches him. The words are foreign, but the emotional hints her magic offer, help to decipher the noises. Noises. Sounds. "I [completion, success, triumph] and [gifting, appreciation, equalism] her mind has no translation for things, but as he keeps speaking, she does make one immediate recognition, as he grabbed the shell, as the cue of that very image in her mind matched the cue of the noise he gave. She tilted her head, realizing on then, he was collecting the items. but the rest of the words? I collect, [completion, success, triumph] [Coming of atoms, a familiar voice whispering as she was resurrected, a new form, a new body, a new being from the scattered remnants of the nebula she had once been].
She follows him as he grabs the shell, watching it go with the others in the bag.
New . . . new, like when she first woke, New, like that moment of fear as she tumbled for weeks trying to manage her sense of balance in space. This time, as she speaks, it's with a sudden profoundness, I am new, was star. Now. Not. And with that realization, she looks back to what he's doing, eyes suddenly alive, as the pieces clicked together. She was new, because she'd been remade. Someone had taken her old atoms, her old energies, and collected those, making them new, her new, into something new. What . . . . you make? The speech is hesitant, as she sniffs at the bag, before her eyes turn towards him, head tilting to the side, as the space rock around her neck thumps against her chest.
She is curious, but more than that.
She's delighted over some of these new words, new sounds. But then she pauses, realizing he could tell her what he did, and she'd never understand, so instead she sheepishly smiles, No, sorry. A pause, trying to reformat her question, trying to think of a sound she could mimic to get her point across, See? She doesn't know the meaning proper, but the noise she was still learning was always connected with visual discovery, of learning, and delightment, like the first time her eyes saw the waters reflecting the stars in the sky. She could wait to be shown, but it would help to explain one thing best - the best way tot each her these sounds, was by visual connection between the noises and what those noises actually spoke to.
The emotional cues filled in the rest of the blanks.
FROM THE MOUTH INSIDE THE MIND
@Benedict Notes:: <3
Breathin' in you give me air, I'm living on your solar flare
Could you be my super nova girl?
